THE PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION\u27S PERSPECTIVE

Community-oriented policing surfaced in the 1980s as a new philosophy in policing. Despite the widespread community support for community policing, the perceptions of this philosophy from a law enforcement organization’s perspective remain unclear. This quantitative, non-experimental research study utilized a survey method to address seven research questions. One large law enforcement organization (sworn and civilian members) in Central Florida was invited to complete a survey to assist in better understanding the role of community-oriented policing and its impact on bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community. This study seeks to better understand a law enforcement organization’s perception of the community it serves. The 114 participants (77 sworn officers and 36 civilian members) surveyed were found to be non-statistically significant regarding their perceptions of the efficacy of community-oriented policing. Additionally, the findings were manifested to be statistically significant regarding community-oriented policing to be the most effective means for law enforcement to bridge the gap with the community. “Attitude toward the public” was found to be the most robust predictor of perceived importance and efficacy of community-oriented policing at a statistically significant level